iberian pork secreto medium well

had 4pax family dinner @ porta at park hotel clarke quay to celebrate wife & son birthdays on 8.11.2017. ^^

porta

porta 

restaurant located next to entrance to park hotel clarke quay. nice ambience.

bread basket

bread basket was the usual, ok.

grilled octopus S$18

there is a UOB 1 for 1 main course & pasta promotion, which require reservations by phone or via chope online. 🙂 so the cheaper main course/pasta is free. 🙂

grilled octopus S$18

we ordered the grilled octopus appetizer S$18.

it was very good, tender, tasty, & nice garnishes & bit of sauce.

though not quite the standard of what we had at lake comon & cinque terre eg alle darsene @ lake como.

panseared foie gras S$24

foie gras was a good serving, according to the server, about 115g to 120g.

panseared foie gras S$24

i did not take the foie gras. wife & children said it was very good, very tasty, much better than mr & mrs bund in shanghai recently on 28.10.2017. 🙂

prawn & chorizo linguine S$22

we picked the prawn & chorizo linguine S$22, the popular dish here.

prawn & chorizo linguine S$22 

it was an excellent pasta – presentation was perfect, pretty,pasta texture was al dente, prawn was fresh & bouncy, & chorizo flavours were superb. & nice shaved parmesan cheese.

squidink seafood pasta S$20

same with the pasta of the day S$20 – a squid ink sauce seafood linguine. 🙂

squidink seafood pasta S$20

very tasty, though between the 2, i think the prawn chorizo linguine was better. 🙂

iberian pork secreto medium well S$26

the iberian pork secreto medium well S$26 was perfect too.

secreto had good marbling, flavourful & very well done, charred ont he outside, and sauce very tasty also. server advised the recommended doneness is medium well.

i googled secreto. found that it’s a secret butcher’s cut, not too specific, could be a cut near the belly. anyway it was a very good tasting cut.

100day grain fed black angus ribeye rare S$34

the 100day grain fed black angus ribeye rare S$34 also very good.

very tender, and sweet.

100day grain fed black angus ribeye medium rare S$34

i think good & fair price for a 100day grain fed black angus ribeye at S$34, and great value when there is 1 for 1. 🙂

100day grain fed black angus ribeye medium rare S$34

the 2oog rib eye steak was served with a tub of fries. 🙂

dinner for 4pax was about S$160, including of 1 for 1 alcoholic drinks from 4pm – 9pm. the white wine we had was very good, the whisky (fott-step in the dark) was useless, just whicky on the rocks…w/o the drinks it would have been about S$115. very good value! ^^

c.h.e.f andy

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Porta @ Park Hotel Clarke Quay

#1 hotate isobe age

had another awesome A5 ohmi wagyu omakase lunch at hachi on 8.11.2017. ^^

first dish was hotate isobe age, a nori (seaweed) flavoured fritter of scallop on a bed of pumpkin puree.

scallop was good, sweet…the nori flavoured fritter also very nice.

#2 large oyster with ponzu jelly

the oyster with ponzu jelly was another really delectable dish…so nice lor!

oyster very fresh, plump & sweet, & the ponzu jelly combined perfectly. 🙂

#3 ohmi wagyu nimono 近江和牛 with taro

the ohmi wagyu 近江和牛nimono (steamed dish) was so flavourful & melt-in-the-mouth.

i think maybe i will try making this dish myself, getting a cheaper wagyu cut & sous vide or low temperature braise.

#4 sashimi moriawase – akami, kampachi, hirame

the sashimi moriawase had only akami, kampachi, hirame. all the sashimi were very good, very sweet.

but the quality of ingredients prompted me to look at past omakase lunches i had here.

looking at the photos of the sashimi moriawase on 2.2.2017 with my 3 OPS bros, the sashimi today was much inferior in quality by comparison.

likewise, then we had uni isobe age..today we had hotate isobe age…quite different la..

#5 grilled A5 ohmi wagyu steak

the grilled A5 ohmi wagyu steak was the best dish for this omakase..so flavourful, marbled, melt-in-your-mouth. ^^

#5 grilled A5 ohmi wagyu steak 

it was served with some some charcoal salt, sweet potato, a white grated wasabi, momotaro tomatoes from hokkaido, crackers and a wedge of tiny dried fishes. awesome!

#6 ohmi wagyu sushi 

the 3 ohmi wagyu sushi were yopped with a ponzu minced daikon, uni & caviar, and a white foie gras dust. 🙂

#6 ohmi wagyu sushi

i liked all 3, not surprisingly the caviar & uni one best. the white foie gras dust did not seem to add anything to the delicious wagyu sushi….

#7 soba with sakura ebi

the “gohan” item for the set was soba with sakura ebi. nice too.

#7 soba with sakura ebi 

tasty dish & sakura ebi flavour & texture was a great accompaniment.

#8 vanilla ice cream with chestnut

they did not have the kuromame which they supposed to serve so replaced by a vanilla ice cream with pistachio chips & chestnut mash in the middle. nice dessert too.

the omakase lunch is now S$95pax (S$88pax before). it is 8-course c/w with the omakase dinner, now at S$178 pax and S$218pax (S$138pax & S$188pax before). it is not cheap but with 3 servings of A5 ohmi wagyu i guess that is still for me the best jap omakase in town for the price.

if c/w the previous same omakase say on 2.2.2017. the ingredients were distinctly inferior, but overall the omakase lunch still very good. just hope there is no continuous shifting of prices north & ingredients south!

c.h.e.f andy

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